Roasting apparatus



Aug. 21, 1934.

K. w. MACDONALD 1,971,012

ROASTING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 13, 1932 Aug. 21, 1934.

K. w. MA'CDONALD ROASTING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 13, 1932 2 Shets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 21, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE signor to Peter J.

Linstrom, Medford, Mass, and Aloysius L. Mahoney, Jamaica Plain,

Mass.

Application February 13,1932, Serial No. 592,697

5 Claims.

This invention relates to certain improvements in a type of baking or roastingmachine which is primarily intended for use in roasting small articles, such as Frankfurts.

The objects of my invention are to provide a roasting machine of this type with which all portions of the articles which are to be roasted will be uniformly operated upon, and a continuously roasting operation may be performed on a large number of articles which may be successively supplied and removed, or with which all the articles which the machine is adapted to receive may be supplied before the roasting operation is started and removed when the operation is finished.

Another object of my invention is to provide in connection with the means for securing the results above referred to, a conveniently arraTnged storage oven in which rolls may be heated and the roasted Frankfurts may be kept warm.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a view partly in front elevation, and partly in central vertical sections of a preferred embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view, at line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a similar view, at line 3--3 of Fig. 1.

Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views of the spindle rotating and the heating means.

As shown in the drawings, an outer casing is provided, which comprises a pedestal portion 1, on which a cylindrical top-portion 2 is mounted in an axially vertical position. A hollow and preferably fixed post 3 is mounted vertically in the middle of the pedestal 1 and extends upward into the lower part of the top-portion 2. A sleeve 4 is mounted for rotation in the post 3 and is supported thereon by a step bearing 5, and a circular table, or carrier 6 is rotatably mounted on said post 3 and is'supported on said sleeve, a simple clutch connection, as teeth '7, being provided therebetween, so that when the sleeve is driven the table will be rotated about a vertical axis. Means for rotating sleeve 4 is provided, which are shown as comprising a motor :2: arranged to drive a worm gear 8 through a series of speedreducing gears, the gear 8 being engaged with gear teeth on the periphery of the sleeve 4, so that when the motor is driven the table 6 will'be slowly rotated, the speed of rotation being made to correspond to requirements.

A series of spindles 10 are mounted for rotation about vertical axes, in the peripheral portion of the carriers 6, said spindles being regularly spaced and circularly arranged with relation to the axis of the carrier, and having a. swiveled connection therewith. A gear or sprocket 11 is mounted on the lower end of each spindle, beneath the carrier, and each gear is arranged in mesh with a circular rack or chain 12, which is fixed on a circular flange 13 formed on the pedestal 1. Each spindle 10 has a series of spring arms 14, which, in the present instance, are designed to hold an ordinary Frankfurt in upright position, as indicated in Fig. 1. A series of holders are thus provided which are moved in a circular path by the carrier 6 and are slowly rotated as they are carried in said path by the engagement of the gears 11 with the fixed rack 12.

An oven for heating rolls and storing the rolls and Frankfurts may be constructed as follows. A flat, circular metal plate 15 is mounted horizontally on the upper end of the post 3, and a cylindrical wall 16 of thin sheet metal is mounted on the peripheral edge of said plate 15 and extends upward above the level of the cylindrical outer casing 2. A series of electrical heating elements 18 are mounted on the outer side of said wall 16, so that they are held in proximity to the holder arms 14 and in heating relation to the oven. The wall 16 may be perforated opposite said elements, as shown in Fig. 5, or it may be imperforate. The electrical connections 19 extend upwardly through the port 3 to the heating elements. A perforated basket 22 is preferably provided for the oven compartment formed within the plate 15 and circular wall 16, said basket being held out of direct contact with the bottom and sides of the compartment by any suitable means. A cover or closure 24 is provided for the compartment, which is fitted to the top edge of the wall 16, and, when removed, permits ready access to the contents of the basket 22.

The wall 16 extends to a somewhat higher lever than the outer side 2 of the casing and the annular compartment provided therebetween is closed by two curved cover sections 25, 26, which are hinged to the outer casing at their middle portions, so that each may be swung upward and outward to permit ready access to the entire space between the casing and wall 16.

Said cover sections are arranged to meet at two corresponding ends and to terminate short of each other at the other two ends to provide an opening 28 through which an article in a holder may be placed in position and removed.

In operating the above-described device the motor rotates the circular carrier 6 at a low speed and the holders 14 are slowly rotated constantly as they are carried in a circular path in proximity tothe heating elements 18, which are mounted on the wall 16. By this arrangement the portions of the Frankfurts in the holders which are directly exposed to the heat from the elements 18 are constantly changed, so that the elect of the roasting operation will be uniform.

Two methods of roasting may be employed. The covers 25, 26 may beclosed and a Frankfurt may be inserted in each holder as it passes beneath the opening 28. The heat will be so regulated, with relation to the speed of rotation of the carrier that, during the time required for a single rotation of the carrier, the roasting operation on a Frankfurt in a holder will be completed, The operation may thus be carried on continuously by removing a Frankfurt from each holder, as it is moved into register with the opening 28, and by placing another in position before the holder has been moved past the opening.

Also, if desired, the covers 25, 26 may be lifted and all theholders filled before the machine is started and then they may be emptied at one time when the operation is finished.

The space within the wall 16 will become heated by the heating elements 18 and may be used for storage purposes of articles which have been roasted, and also it may be used for heating the rolls in connection with which Frankfurts are usually sold.

As thus arranged ready access may be had to the storage oven while the roasting operation is going on.

I claim:

1. In a roasting apparatus, a vertical post, an oven supported on the post and having a cylindrical side wall and a closure for the top thereof, a horizontally disposed and rotary carrier mounted on the post beneath the oven and extending beyond said side wall, a series of holders mounted in spaced relation on the peripheral portion of said carrier to rotate about vertical axes and to be carried in a circular path in proximity to said side wall, a fixed outer casing having a portion encircling said holders andproviding an annular space between the same and said side wall in 'which said holders are carried, heating elements adjacent to said side wall within said space for heating the space and oven, and interengaging means on said casing .and said holders for causing rotation of the holders as they are moved circularly by said carrier.

2. In a roasting apparatus, a fixed vertical post, an open oven on the top portion of said post comprising a horizontally disposed bottom having a cylindrical side wall and a closure for the top thereof, a circular. horizontally disposed carrier rotatably mounted on said post beneath said bottom and extending beyond, said side wall, a series of holders mounted in spaced relation on the peripheral-portion of said carrier to rotate about vertical axes and to be carried in a circular path in proximity to said side wall, a fixed outer casing having a portion encircling said holders and providing an annular space between the same and said side wall in which said holders are carried, heating elements adjacent to said side wall and laterally of said holders, and interengaging means on said casing and said holders for causing rotation of the holders as they are moved circularly by through the wall.

4. The apparatus defined in claim 1, plus removable cover sections resting on said side wall and outer casing and spanning the gap therebetween in a manner providing a cover over said annular space above said holders therein.

5. In a roasting apparatus, a vertical post, a fixed outer casing about the post and having a cylindrical top portion of relatively large diameter, means mounted on the top end of the post and having a vertically extending cylindrical wall of relatively large diameter inwardly of and spaced from the cylindrical top portion of the casing in a manner providing a circular chamber therebetween, heating elements adjacent to the outer face of the wall, a rotary-element on the post having a toothed upper end, a rotary carrier on the post having a toothed lower end in clutching engagement with the toothed upper end of the rotary element, the carrier extending outwardly to the circular chamber, a series of spindles circularly mounted in spaced relation on the peripheral portion of the carrier, article holding means on each spindle and extending upwardly into' the circular chamber, a circular rack carried by the casing concentrically of the post, gears respectively carried by the spindles and in mesh with the rack, and means for rotating the rotary element.

KENNETH W. MACDONALD.

CERTIFICATE or CORRECTION.

Patent No. 1,971,012. August 21, 1934.

KENNETH W. MacDONALD.

It is-hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 2, line 79, claim 2. strike but the word "open"; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 11th day of September, A. D. 1934.

Actingfiommissioner of Patents.

(Seal) Leslie Frazer 

